What's Hot: Can charge four devices at once, has enough output to charge a tablet along with other smaller electronics, has one syncing port, has space to organize and carry cables.

What's Not: The syncing USB cable could be longer.

If you take your phone, tablet, Bluetooth headset and a spare battery on the road with you, you will need a small gear bag just to carry the chargers and cables. Perhaps you also carry a small power strip that allows you to charge all your devices when there is only one power outlet available. AViiQ has released a product that can save you the trouble of bringing several chargers and a power strip. The Portable Charging Station has an AC adapter that outputs enough power for all your small electronics, and a charging station with 4 USB outlets that can charge 3 devices and sync while charging an additional device. This 4 device charging pack comes in a nylon zipper bag that you can store all your USB cables and even your headset and small batteries in along with the charging gear. Not bad for organizing all your charging needs in one place.

Design

The AViiQ Portable Charging Station is designed with road warriors in mind. The two main components come in small blocks. The power adapter measures 3.46 x 2.36 x 1.88 inches, and the charging hub is just slightly thinner. The zipper bag has straps that tie the blocks securely to the bag, and together they weigh 12.8 ounces. Below the charging block, the zipper bag has four flaps with Velcro to keep the charging cables separated. Most of them work very effectively except the closest one to the charging block that doesn't shut securely. The right side of the zipper bag has a meshed pocket for you to store small items such as cables, spare batteries, Bluetooth headsets and more. There is also a long pocket on the exterior of the zipper bag for storing paper or business cards.

The AViiQ Portable Charging Station is about organization. The power adapter has folding prongs and a cord winder that you can tug the 4" cable neatly into. The charging block has a small LED light to indicate if the power is coming through, and the data USB cable for the single syncing port is retractable. The USB cord is 8.5" long.

Features

The AViiQ Portable Charging Station has enough power to charge a 10" tablet, a smartphone, a digital camera and a Bluetooth headset all at once. The AC power adapter is a world adapter with 100-240V 0.45A max input. It outputs 5V DC up to 3Amp power (15W max). This means you can charge an iPad 2, an iPhone 4S, an external battery and a Bluetooth headset via four USB ports. We tested charging these devices and found it worked well. We also tried charging two tablets (an iPad 2 and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plug), the AViiQ Portable Charging Station didn't have enough power for both. If you are charging a tablet, a phone and other small electronic, be sure to plug in the tablet first so that it gets enough power, then plug in others. The power adapter has the usual safety features including overload protection and short circuit protection.

The first three USB 2.0 ports (from left to right) on the AViiQ Portable Charging Station are power pass through ports. You can only charge the devices connected to these ports. The last USB 2.0 port, marked Data, can sync as well as charge at the same time. Just use your device's USB cable to connect to the charging station, and plug the built-in retractable USB cable on the charge station to your computer, you are good to go. We tested smartphones and tablets using the data port, and found it worked well with all on both Mac and PC for syncing.

Conclusion

The AViiQ Portable Charging Station is an ideal accessory for road warriors who need to charge several device with limited power outlet, like at the airport. The charging station has built-in cable organizer, or if you don't care about the mess, you can just take the power adapter and charging block with you and replace several power adapters and a power strip. The charging station has enough power for tablets as well as phones, cameras and Bluetooth headsets, though can't charge more than one tablet at a time. The sturdy zipper bag has more room for small gear and might just replace your current gear bag for charging devices.